National

Photo gallery: Merle Haggard, 1937-2016

Country music legend Merle Haggard smiles during a news conference at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington Wednesday, May 28, 2003 where he and his sister Lillian Haggard Hoge donated belongings taken on their family's Dust Bowl-era move from Oklahoma to California on Route 66. Haggard died of pneumonia, Wednesday, April 6, 2016, in Palo Cedro, Calif. He was 79 RICK BOWMERAP

Merle Haggard performs on stage during the 2015 Stagecoach Festival at the EmpireClub on Friday, April 24, 2015, in Indio, Calif.Haggard died of pneumonia, Wednesday, April 6, 2016, in Palo Cedro, Calif. He was 79 Paul A. HebertAP/Invision

Merle Haggard performs in concert at Harrahís Resort in Atlantic City, N.J. At 77, he still tours around the country about two weeks each month and recently bought a new tour bus, a sign that heís not interested in retirement from the road. His band, the Strangers, now includes his wife, Theresa, and 21-year-old son Ben, as well as band leader Norman Hamlett, who has been with Haggard since the 1960s. Owen SweeneyAP/Invision

This April 10, 2012, shows Merle Haggard viewing an exhibit on the Bakersfield sound at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tenn. Mark HumphreyAP

Merle Haggard, a recipient of the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors, is escorted to the East Room of the White House in Washington for a reception, Sunday, Dec. 5, 2010. Manuel Balce CenetaAP

Tammy Wynette is shown in June 1991 as she was presented with the living legend award by Merle Haggard at the TNN Music City News Country Awards in Nashville. Mark HumphreyAP

Country music legends Buck Owens (left) and Merle Haggard perform together on Friday, June 16, 1995, for the first time in thirty years at a concert in Bakersfield, California, the town in which they launched their careers. In the mid 1960s, Haggard played in Owens' band before both went on to country music stardom. John HarteAP

Merle Haggard, left, and Willie Nelson accept their Duo of the Year award at the Country Music Association Awards in Nashville, Tenn., Oct. 10, 1983. Mark HumphreyAP

Country and Western singer Merle Haggard, right, shares a moment with U.S. President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan, during a barbecue lunch at Rancho Sierra Grande, near Santa Ynez, Calif., on March 7, 1982. CHARLES TASNADIAP

Country singer Merle Haggard is shown at a news conference in New York City on April 6, 1974. AP

Country music singer Merle Haggard, left, is greeted by President Richard Nixon and first lady Pat Nixon at the White House, where Haggard entertained the president and his wife on her birthday celebration, March 19, 1973. Charles TasnadiAP

Bakersfield named a street after country music great, Merle Haggard who grew up there. Travel story looks into the Bakersfield sound, the Telecaster-rich style of country music made famous by Bakersfield's Buck Owens. Lezlie Sterlinglsterling@sacbee.com

Country singer Merle Haggard, right, poses with composer Henry Mancini, center, and Lanie Kazan after being named top male vocalist and entertainer of the year at the 1970 6th Academy of Country Music Awards in Hollywood, Ca., March 22, 1971. AP